Griffins have three candidates to replace Stothers; 08-09 roster starting to take shape

Grand Rapids Griffins GM Bob McNamara told the Grand Rapids Press's Michael Zuidema that the Griffins have narrowed their search for Mike Stothers' replacement down to three coaches who will have a tough job to do; the Griffins will experience a tremendous amount of roster turnover this summer, but they need to build a team that can balance its status as a developmental organization with its Red Wings-like standard of regular season and playoff excellence:

June 28, Grand Rapids Press: McNamara said the team expects to bring the candidates to Detroit soon for face-to-face meetings with officials from the Griffins and the parent club Red Wings, and hopes to have a coach hired in the next two to three weeks. On June 18, the organization also announced that the Griffins would reacquire the responsibility for the hiring of their coaching staff from the Red Wings, who still will offer input.

"This process is not something that we're unfamiliar with, this is something we've done before," McNamara said. "The Red Wings have been great with sitting down with us and looking at candidates so we'll both have a high comfort level."

While McNamara would not reveal names of the three candidates, he did confirm that Jim Paek will return for his fourth season as an assistant coach. McNamara said Paek will be a fine head coaching candidate in the future with more experience.

"Absolutely. He's been with us for three years and he just needs a little more seasoning," McNamara said. "He'll be an excellent coach at some point down the road, it's just a little early yet."

McNamara also says that the team's prospect-heavy roster is starting to take shape:

McNamara also is in the process of putting together the Griffins' roster for next season, as prospects such as forward Jan Mursak, defenseman Logan Pyett and goaltender Daniel Larsson are expected to make their Griffins debuts. The free agent signing period also begins Tuesday.

"The roster is going to change. For example, I think a lot of the veteran leadership is going to change," McNamara said. "But I think you can expect another influx of young guys. You'll continue to see those guys show up in Grand Rapids."

Per RedWingsCentral's depth chart, the following players are highly likely to join Mursak, Pyett, and Larsson on the Griffins' roster:

On defence, Pyett will play alongside Jakub Kindl and Sergei Kolosov, and it's highly likely at this point that Jonathan Ericsson and one of Derek Meech or Kyle Quincey (assuming that the latter pair would clear waivers) could join them as four or five of the Griffins' seven defencemen. It's worth noting that Jon Insana and Tom Galvin were signed to contracts by the Griffins this past season, so it's entirely possible that the Griffins' blueline is set;

In the crease, it's still up in the air as to whether Larsson will share the team's netminding duties with Jimmy Howard or a veteran back-up.